Security Intermediate

What is Rate Limiting?

A technique that controls the number of requests a client can make to a server within a specified time period.

Rate limiting protects APIs and services from abuse, DDoS attacks, and excessive usage. Common approaches include fixed window (X requests per minute), sliding window (smoother distribution), and token bucket (burst-friendly) algorithms.

Implementation can be per-user, per-IP, or per-API-key. HTTP response headers (X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining, Retry-After) communicate limits to clients. Redis is commonly used to track request counts.

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Related Terms

Cryptographic Key Management

The practices and procedures for generating, storing, distributing, rotating, and revoking encryption keys securely.

Session Hijacking

An attack where an adversary takes over a legitimate user session by stealing or predicting the session identifier.

Penetration Testing

An authorized simulated cyberattack on a system to evaluate its security defenses and identify vulnerabilities.

Brute Force Attack

An attack method that systematically tries all possible combinations of passwords or keys until the correct one is found.

Principle of Least Privilege

A security principle where users and programs receive only the minimum access rights needed to perform their specific tasks.

The process of converting readable data into an unreadable format using algorithms, reversible only with the correct key.

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